Desk-top



(No Model.)

B. A. PAUL.

.- DESK TOP. I 7

No; 272,759. w Patented Feb.20, 1883.

Fay-Z1:

WITNESSBS- I mvsmon.

- ATTORNEYS.

N4 FEIERS. Phcwunw m mn Washington. D. c

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEQ EMMA A. PAUL, OF MADISON, WISCONSIN.

DESK-TO P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,759, dated February 20, 1883.

Application filed December 18, 1882. (N0 model.)

.To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EMNIAA.PAUL,Of Madison, in the county of Dane and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Desk-Tops; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a plan or top view of my improved desk-top constructed with two slatesurfaces. Fig. 2 is a desk-top having one slatesurl'ace only; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section ot'my improved desk-top, showingits construction and arrangement.

My invention has relation to desk-tops specially adapted to school-desks, or desks forchildrens use, of that class in which the desk-top is provided with an inlaid surface of slate or similar material for drawing purposes; and it consists in the improved construction of the desk-top, as hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claim.

. In the accompanying drawings, the letter A denotes an ordinary desk-top, of wood or any other suitable material. Around the edges of this are fastened cleats or strips of wood B. which are beveled on their inner sides.

0 is a pad, which may be made of felt, cloth, or ot'several thicknesses ofblotting-paper, and this is held in place by triangular strips D, which are titted info the bevel of the outer cleats, B, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 ofthe drawings, and fastened thereto by small nails or tacks driven transversely through them.

E is a slate, the edges of which are trimmed 0ft square, and which is placed upon the bottom pad, (3. To hold this slate firmly in its place I insert bands of rubber or other suitable packing between the edges of the slate and the strips B and D, as shown at F, the triangular shape ot'the recess into which this packing is inserted holding it in place and preventing it from being picked out by the schoolchildren. In this manner I construct a slatesurface flush with the top of the desk, which is to a certain degree yielding on account of the elastic pad on which it rests, while at the same time it can be easily removed by taking ofi' one ofthe outer cleats, B, without disturbing the bottom pad, which is fixed in its position by the triangular strips or cleats F.

I am aware that it is not new, broadly, to construct a desk-top with a pad or cushion underlying the slate-surface and with cleats for.

holding both the pad and slate in their proper places; but

What I claim as my improvement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United EMMA AJPAUL.

Witnesses EDMOND BURDICK, WM. M. BRADLEY. 

